Fairy In Boots

56 minutes ago, Spike said:

Villans, Toffees, and whatever the nickname for Chelsea fans is (Tories?), on damage control patrol.

No just pointing out the stupidity of the hysterical reaction. We’re within PSR when we sold Douglas Luiz for £30m and two players, last years £60m from 3 academy players put us to within £30m and we’ve planned for this. 
 

1 hour ago, The Palace Fan said:

I also made the point that if the FA are going to review transfers they're going to have to look at historical deals.

They do anyway always have, it’s the Media seeing a trend and driving clicks. It’s like them saying water is wet 

24 minutes ago, The Palace Fan said:

I haven't disputed that Aston Villa have built a good academy at the expense of EFL clubs. I said the 19m fee Chelsea are paying for a player they could have got for 600k two years ago is ridiculous.

So was £23.5m for Ryan Brewster, £80m for Anthony, this is the market, I agree it’s ridiculous and the top end pushing it higher prices out fans. I’m still for £10 a ticket and wage cap’s personally 

22 minutes ago, The Palace Fan said:

Hi Nick De Marco, welcome to the forum.

Seriously we raised about £60m last year, also all transfers have always been subject to PL processes, it’s a way of generating click bait that headline from the Mail. 
 

I can’t be bothered to go and grab all the athletic podcasts about Villa’s youth strategy since NSWE took over but Villa fans have known about this for 3-4 years it’s within the rules of the game. You can laugh about it all you like, Villa picked up Kellyman from an ailing Derby for £600k he’s 18 has played several games for us and an England U20 international. £19m is about right considering market values nowadays, he will be a top player.

7 hours ago, The Palace Fan said:

As you said, they'll look to close a loophole. They need to look like they have some form of authority whilst the government are planning to introduce an independent regulator even though the horse has bolted.

A review would be pointless, how far back do you want to go, Man City selling several young players for high fees to Southampton? Bournemouth's bizarre valuation of Liverpool's players by a man who now works for Liverpool? The several deals between Udinese and Watford? 

Clubs have been doing this for years, it's just Chelsea have once again ruined it for everybody by paying a ridiculous fee for an Aston Villa player.

£20m for Kellyman is not ridiculous, he’s arguably top 5 prospect in this country. Villa have built this over 5 years, we have recruited aggressively at youth level and loaned players out to make them valuable and sell on as we knew the PSR is a glass ceiling, and we need to catch up with the “big 6” economically.  Nobody said anything last year when we flogged Carney for £20m & Ramsey for £20m etc 

We’ve also flogged Douglas Luiz for £30m plus two players to Juventus but nobody is talking about that one. 
 

Tim to Everton is fair at £9m he’s had a season in the championship where he did well and only got limited minutes at Villa last year, he’s not good enough for a CL side so he’s moved on. Bogarde is £4m again good potential young CB very combative. We have a stable of kids in our academy now. expect £30-£40m in sales every year it’s what it’s been designed for 

29 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

I just think you'll see more and more of this now. Wolves have just had a clash with one of their supporter groups already this summer as well about ticket prices.

It's going on with Everton too. All the talk is that even though the new stadium will be bigger, the club will have to reduce the number of season ticket holders as well as increasing the price of them "so that we can compete financially". I think we have the highest percentage in the league at the moment of match tickets being season tickets. The problem from a commercial perspective is that season tickets are cheaper per game than the seats that go on general sale.

In the past you could have been loyal to your fanbase and sustained losses if your owners have enough money or if you can find investment. PSR now means that clubs are going to have to squeeze every last drop of income from what they've decided are "legitimate" sources such as match-day income and merchandising, so welcome to the era of loyal, match-going fans being priced out of seeing their team play and buying kits for their kids.

It'll take a lot for Villa to get remotely close to even Spurs' global following and branding, let alone the rest of the rich clubs. Same with Newcastle. I don't even think 2-3 years of qualifying for the Champions League again and again would necessarily bridge the gap. Every time a new team enters that "global status" group, there's less of the market left for any new clubs to get a slice of it. Man City and PSG are the most recent ones in there to crowd the market, there's only so much "space".

How Villa or Newcastle are supposed to sustain a few years as a top four club under the current rules is beyond me though.

It is a closed shop as long as these rules are in place. The PSR rules, in theory, are fine. Nobody wants to see Newcastle buy their way from battling relegation to winning trophies in 3 years in a totally plastic fashion like we've seen in the past. The problem is the things that are allowed to count towards your PSR calculations massively favour those global clubs and mean that Man Utd and Chelsea can afford to waste hundreds of millions in the transfer market every year while the likes of Aston Villa or Brighton can get good value out of almost every transfer they make and still be a thousand miles away from competing financially. The types of income that allow the elite clubs to spend loads of money can't be attained without building a football club in the first place and if you're not already making that level of income, the rules don't permit you to spend the money you need to build the club.

If they just massively limited the amount of sponsorship and merchandising income that those clubs make that counts towards your PSR profits, then Chelsea and Man Utd and any other rich club would actually face sporting consequences for being run like a circus and there'd be room for Aston Villa, Newcastle or whoever else to move into the top 4 positions and stay there as long as they continue to earn it each year. It's not that difficult to fix. It's just a matter of motivation.

Nah I think perception and challenging is enough to grow as a brand, let’s face it Spurs won nothing but have grown off the back of Poch era, I don’t think they will have added new fans at the same rate in the last few years. In fairness they also have a great stadium which has helped them increase revenue massively. We are planning to expand Villa park as well. 

9 hours ago, Reluctant Striker said:

 

I just can't see us competing with the likes of Spurs, Chelsea & Arsenal for that sort of thing. Part of the problem with Villa is we just don't have that sort of fan base. A season ticket? A shirt or 2? That's about the limit for the vast majority. Unless they can attract in 'new' fans.

Spurs don’t have the kind of fanbase, not in the U.K. anyway it’s more the international fans that you get from being a champions league club year in year out. We need 2-3 years to sustain and close the gap. 
 

V sports that own us are wrath of god money now, we could sustain loses for a decade, need to box clever and play within the rules but you can already see NSWE are getting frustrated and looks like we’ll go the city route and start that fight. I disagree with city and I don’t think it’s healthy for football at all, the purist in me wants no closed shop at the top and the ability for teams to ride and fall on sporting merit.
 

Don’t think it will happen now the cat is out of the bag now. This is perfect for City and their fight with the PL as they have done wrong but it’s another headache which will likely mean the PL amends demands long term and that benefits city.
To be a fly on the wall at PL administration right now 

On 06/06/2024 at 15:56, Devil said:

I think it was pretty evident what the other Premier league clubs think of Man City when they won the Champions league. Not a single club reached out and offered their congratulations through their social media.

 

Despised within the game, however there is frustration amongst some about PSR as that’s a glass ceiling for the likes of Villa, Everton, Forest & Newcastle 

6 hours ago, Happy Blue said:

If we win this court case next week everything the premier league have charged us with will not count, the 115 will go straight down the toilet with the hearing, everything could be settled next week  ..what the Prem is trying to do is illegal, this is what we will argue in court on Monday

You don’t understand the legality of it all then if you think that’s the case.  The Man City of old I’d have had sympathy for they were a proper club with proper fans whose club has been hijacked by a gulf state. Now I have no sympathy as the fans seem to be wind up merchants with little or no understanding of football administration yet tell us their victims will be funny watching those titles get voided. Imagine supporting the Lance Armstrong of the footballing world, a stink that will hang around your club for generations 

Delaying tactics, the PL have a small legal team and they will now be burdened by this. City have the best lawyers in the country, but they are done for and they know it now. Hence Pep will leave next year, shame the titles won’t be voided for the players and coaches too, just the club but we are entering the end game now. Within two years they will be brought to half justice, you will never get full justice they’ve delayed too long. But scum club and fans of theirs who defend them are rats, destroyed the game they have 

What have we done to our game with VAR and the offside rule, absolutely robbed Coventry there and robbed the competition of a great story so we can watch City dick United again. Who cares? 

2 hours ago, Reluctant Striker said:

Yes, Pau & Kamara have been particularly big absences. Them 2, Douglas Luiz & Emi Martinez, in particular, get into most sides. Certainly very limited players who can be considered as better.

On one hand, the top 5 look fairly clear. And feels like it would take a big turnaround for a side outside to catch up. So, Villa probably are firstly looking at staying ahead of Spurs or Arsenal.

But then, this a very new Villa, which I can't quite decide what is realistic. But I think it is in a better position than signing Championship strikers in January. 

We won’t win the league, that will be City or Liverpool and it will be a 90 point tally. I think we’ll end up about 10 behind as will Arsenal and Spurs so it’s just who finishes top 4 really

On 31/12/2023 at 06:40, Reluctant Striker said:

Villa still not really finding the early season form. But, a win is a win. Looking through the league fixtures to early March, home matches with Newcastle, Man United, Forest & Spurs . Away games with Everton, Fulham, Sheff United & Luton. Probably the way round you would choose them & will be the final 10 after that. Which will include Arsenal (a) Man City (a) Liverpool (h) West Ham (a) Brighton (a) Chelsea (h)

December is a tough month, so many games in quick succession that you need to grind out results and we’ve hung in there arguably despite injuries and suspensions. I think we’ve done well. I think we need to have another run of 5-6 wins on the spin to get top 4 though 

10 hours ago, Danny said:

Honestly Watkins and Villa need to clear this up because the vagueness of this whole situation is completely killing his standing at the club.

I don’t believe that a player ever owes his entire career to a club but Watkins would have struggled to find a club that would have given him the development time that we did. If it was just general stick then he’s overreacted and ruined his standing amongst fans who still love him, if it’s something much more serious then that needs to be explained because Villa are asking for a fan to be investigated yet no one will say what for.

Just a confusing mess to add to what seemed to have become quite a chaotic game.

Yeah it is vague, I think it was more to back Ollie out of the gate. I agree it’s weird.
If it’s racist abuse then they should say that, but on the flip side it could tar the whole fanbase so I get the logic of not going into detail. Headlines would just be “Watkins racially abused at Brentford” when the statement specifically says it respects the majority of Brentford fans 

Ben Mee is a disgusting player

On 10/12/2023 at 21:33, N U F C said:

We are out on our feet again but fair play to Spurs and Postecoglu, they look a proper team again.

It’s the performances against dross like Bournemouth and Everton that have been concerning, need bodies back but Howe’s reluctance to make subs is quite irritating.

I think we’ll be decent again back at home but January can’t come fast enough.

Bournemouth are one of the best teams we’ve faced this season, Dyche has got Everton firing too, it’s just the league you come against some tricky teams on their day, I’d describe neither side as dross

26 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

Is Doku unavailable? I'd have thought he'd be the best option here. Grealish and Bernardo are massive cut inside and re-beat their man merchants which gives Luton time to get their men behind the ball.

We've defended and battled well but we've been holding on for a lot of that half. Maybe time to get Onana on for Gueye if he's up to it.

Souness was right about Grealish, the game has moved on from two years ago and he’s not direct enough now.  Will go Saudi or Italy in the summer

12 hours ago, Reluctant Striker said:

Yes. Depends on what teams below & maybe above do. But draws at Wolves & Bournemouth. The loss at Forest. The really successful sides find ways for it to have been 2 wins & 1 draw. How the title points bar keeps getting close to 100 in so many recent seasons.

It is still that kind of thing could make a difference to where Villa finish this season.

But maybe not a bad run for the rest of December. Avoid defeat to Zrinjski to advance to UECL last 16. Brentford (a), Sheff United (h), Man United (a) & Burnley (h)

 

That point against Bournemouth doesn’t look so bad, they’re well coached now and will do well this year. 
 

Great result, leggy at the end but we got it done. Brentford away will be tough though 

1 hour ago, OrangeKhrush said:

villa can win the league, they have avoided injuries well and have enough quality.   Their squad has been built for 5 years so they are deep into their cycle now.  

Villa should be focused on winning now

We won’t the league but definitely in the Top 4 hunt now

I’ve said many times over the years we are potentially a massive club. We’re just waiting for the spark, it’s here 

On 27/10/2023 at 15:10, The Palace Fan said:

If Manchester United approached Emery I think he'd go. In terms of club size in England there's Manchester United and then there's everybody else.

That said I don't think it would be the right decision. Ten Hag has disposed of a lot of problematic characters and now there appears to be a wave of new problems. The players who filled holes last season are becoming issues this season. Then there's the inevitability of all the Emery meme's resurfacing after his first decision.

V Sports which owns Villa are  purchasing a significant stake in Real Union which is the club Emery owns in Spain and his Brother is president of, think City and all the restaurants he gets as sweeteners for being at City. This is the game now, United are being left way behind 

10 hours ago, Reluctant Striker said:

The weird bit of TNT coverage is Robbie Savage being assigned as the Villa matches co-commentator. I can only presume he was signed up well before the sides were known. He has, for many years, for whatever reason, given an impression of thoroughly enjoying Villa being nowhere near as 'The Big 6' term was formed. Now, he resorts to questioning why it is Man United do not have a playing style, as Villa have & Spurs have. i.e. How to get things back how to how they should be.

The European competitions are often such an insular thing, the broadcasters would be as well to wait & see, and then find a partisan former player. You may aswell. I imagine many Villa fans could & would listen to someone like a Dion Dublin or Andy Townsend a lot easier than a Leicester - Birmingham pundit.

I don’t mind him, it’s sweeter when we win and he has to commentate on it

On 24/10/2023 at 12:53, OrangeKhrush said:

the biggest loss to villa would be Emery and if ten hag is sacked i think Yanited will come calling

I genuinely don’t think he’d go, he’s in complete control here with the keys to everything, his mission is to build us up so we can fulfil our potential. Why would you go to a situation where you don’t have complete control? He declined Newcastle because of work life balance, I don’t think money is an issue it’s a passion project for him at this point in his life

On 07/09/2023 at 15:53, Bluebird Hewitt said:

Fair play. I was a little surprised when he went to Hull as I had him as at least a higher Championship (maybe lower premiership if developed correctly) player.

He was inconsistent to begin with, but showed his worth in the latter stages of last season and was simply too good for us really.

Him Archer and Ramsey are all buy back clauses, it helps with FFP as we are selling academy players so counts as pure profit